Samsonite sees online sales opportunities in India

Global luggage market leader Samsonite is planning to push its online business to new heights in India. According to the company’s president of Asia Pacific, Subrata Dutta: "In India, online sales contribution is 8 per cent whereas on a global scale, approximately 9 per cent is the online sales contribution. It is expected to grow to 25 per cent in the next five years with the help of eBags, an e- retail platform specialising in luggage. We intend to launch eBags in India in 2018."

Samsonite’s share price has risen by 41% so far this year

SOURCE: Yahoo Finance

Samsonite is not pinning all its hopes on digital channels though – it will also expand its brick-and-mortar offering in the country, adding a further 50 stores this year. This will bring its total up to more than 400, as it hopes to grow sales in the region by 12% to 15%. According to Dutta “this will be in line with our past growth trends.”

Explaining where he sees this growth coming from, Dutta added: “The big opportunity in India lies in converting the large unbranded market to branded, reaching out to the customers in smaller towns and being relevant to travellers beyond air travellers. We see women’s category as a future growth driver, with our women’s hand bag brand Lipault in particular.”

India is the fifth largest market for Samsonite after the U.S., China, Korea and Japan. It contributes around 5% of the company’s overall turnover, and enjoys around 40% market share in the Indian branded luggage segment.

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